In a drama-filled game that featured 10 lead changes and 15 ties, huge performances from LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard lifted the Portland Trail Blazers to a 122-120 overtime victory against the Rockets on Sunday night at the Toyota Center in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series in Houston.

Aldridge scored a career-high 46 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and even made both of his three-point attempts. Lillard had 31 points, nine rebounds, five assists and one turnover.

A critical play for the game, and perhaps for the series, came with 1:04 to play in overtime, as Aldridge was whistled for an illegal screen against Houston's Patrick Beverley. It was Aldridge's sixth foul, leaving the Blazers without their All-Star forward for the final minute of a game that was deadlocked at 116-116. But Beverley came up hobbling after the collision, then fouled out himself 20 seconds later. It turns out the Rockets' lockdown defender sprained his right knee on the play, though the Rockets said an MRI on Monday revealed "no acute issues" and said Beverley was "likely" to play Wednesday night in Game 2.

Beverley's status for Game 2 and beyond could be a major factor in the series. Then again, so could the Blazers' gritty Game 1 victory that, at least for now, erased Houston's homecourt advantage.